


Gallantry in Motion

by MalpaisQuanta



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalpaisQuanta/pseuds/MalpaisQuanta
Summary: Even Edelgard has her limits. As always, Byleth is there to support her.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Gallantry in Motion

Edelgard was many things. Emperor. Commander. A revolutionary waging twin wars, one against the heavens, the other against the dark.

She, however, was still human, and she still had her limits.

So when her legs gave out after a particularly gruelling sparring session with Hubert and Byleth, she was quite surprised to find herself waking back up in her bed, feeling like she’d fought against an army of demonic beasts, instead of on the floor of the training grounds. She’d expected it to be a brief interruption in their practice.

Yet she could see the light pouring through the window, when during the spar it was dark. She’d slept a while, it seemed. But she couldn’t sleep any longer.

Swiftly swinging her legs out, she became acquainted with her bedside table when her legs gave out again and sent her to her knees. Why they were behaving like this she didn’t understand. The spar was a difficult one, yes. But she’d been in far worse battles. Back in the academy, she’d run herself ragged trying to handle too much at once. The spar had been nothing compared to those days!

“Edelgard?”

“Yes, Professor?” As if her current predicament wasn’t bad enough, now her teacher was going to see her like this. She quickly tried to force herself back up into a seated position, but when she still couldn’t stand, she resigned herself to sitting down next to the bed instead.

“May I come in?”

She didn’t want him to come in. Not when she was like this. But Hubert would fret more about her and make this even worse. “Of course,” she said reluctantly.

The door creaked open. Byleth pushed through it with a tray in his hands. His eyebrows rose slightly upon seeing her on the floor, but he turned his attention to placing the tray upon a nearby table before addressing her. “Do you need help?”  
  
“No.” She caught that flash of disbelief on his face. “I am fine,” she insisted.

“Very well.” Byleth stepped back from the tray. “There’s some soup and some tea. Hubert watched me closely,” and the note of resignation in his voice almost made her smile a bit, “so it’s nothing other than ordinary soup and ordinary tea.”

“Thank you, Professor.”  
  
“Of course. But, ah…” Byleth stepped away from the desk, but stood with his back to the door. “He has asked that I stay here until you have eaten it.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“He believes you may need help. His words, not mine. So I’m here if you need help.”  
  
She couldn’t really blame Hubert. Really. He was supposed to watch over her. But this was uncalled for.

Hoping that perhaps the brief reprieve had allowed her legs time to gain strength, Edelgard slowly pushed herself back upright once more. This time, they held, even as she took a pair of careful, yet prideful steps forward. She could not let herself be defeated by something as stupid as her own body. Not after all she’d done.

Unfortunately, her legs saw things differently.

“Careful.”  
  
As much as she appreciated Byleth catching her when she stumbled, she felt even more embarrassed than she had when he walked in. She quickly pushed herself upright, more determined than ever to prove she was fine, she didn’t need help.

Mercifully, her legs agreed with her. She sat down in the chair with a relieved but quiet sigh.

“May I make a suggestion, Edelgard?”  
  
Edelgard tensed. Byleth never normally asked for permission to say something. She’d made him the commander of the Black Eagle Strike Force because she trusted him and his judgement. “You may, but I must admit I may not like what you are thinking of.”  
  
“I know you won’t. But given how you are struggling to move across your own bedroom, I’d suggest just resting today.”  
  
“No. We need to discuss the strategy for reinforcing Fódlan’s Throat. I refuse to sit out a strategy meeting because of this.”  
  
“You’re barely standing.”  
  
“I am fine, Professor.” When Byleth didn’t speak further, she turned her attention to the meal he’d brought in.

The soup was good. It felt reinvigorating and warm, an amazing mixture of flavours that all complimented each other. The tea was lovely, but also rather cool. It must have been made long before the soup was done.

“Thank you, Professor.”  
  
“How are you feeling?”  
  
Tired. Her body ached, more so than it should have. Her legs didn’t feel any less shaky.

“I am fine.” Edelgard stood up once again, but only for a moment-  
  
“No you’re not.”  
  
“I am fine, Professor.” She’d missed the chair and knocked it away on her way down, she was not fine, but she wasn’t going to admit that. Not even to him. “I will be at the meeting.”

“Are you sure?”  
  
“Yes.” She tried to force as much authority into her voice as she could, given her now embarrassed pride and the multitude of aches and pains in her body.

“Very well.” Byleth quickly opened the door and slipped out, giving her a brief reprieve to try and force herself back up. The idea of taking the day to rest sounded appealing, but she couldn’t take it. She had to be strong, she couldn’t let this stop her!

“Never mind.” Byleth was back in just as she got back up. “The meeting’s cancelled. Ferdinand, Lorenz and Sylvain are all in the infirmary.”  
  
“Ferdinand, Lorenz _and_ Sylvain are all in the infirmary.” Really? She hoped the disbelief didn’t show itself too much on her face. “What happened?”  
  
“Riding accident.”  
  
“All three of them had a riding accident?”  
  
“That’s what I was just told. The horses are fine, the riders are not. Manuela doesn’t think they’ll be out for a week.”  
  
“A week?”  
  
“Yes.” To prove his point, he stuck his head back out of the door. “A week you said?”  
  
Manuela’s voice came through the door. “Yes, a week.” Byleth brought his head back in and looked back at her.  
  
“I see.” Edelgard didn’t really believe that, but she was willing to give them both the benefit of the doubt. “Then I will focus on the requests from our newly acquired Kingdom and Alliance territories.”  
  
“You can do that while resting.”

Edelgard almost sighed out loud. “I do not need to rest-“  
  
Byleth got very, very close to her, and she needed to take a step back but of course her legs gave out again and he had to grab her to stop her from falling again-

“I really think you do, Edie.”  
  


“Did you just call me Edie?”  
  
“Yes.” There wasn’t a trace of sarcasm on his face. “Dorothea calls you it often.”  
  
“I know.” He was still too close, his hand still holding onto hers, keeping her steady. “If I rest, then what about everything else?”  
  
“Hubert and Ingrid have volunteered to keep an eye on the soldiers to ensure they keep up their training. Some of the other commanders are also resting today. We are not needed.”  
  
“We?”

“If you want to rest, I will ask that I be allowed to remain with you.” The surprise must have shown because he immediately started explaining. “I do not have anything other than reports to look at and stories to read. I would prefer to stay in here. If it makes you uncomfortable, then I will not stay in here.”

She didn’t need him to stay around. She could manage on her own.

But then didn’t Dorothea mention how he was one of the best people for having as company? She-

He was still too close, and he finally realised because he noticed and backed away. “Sorry.”  
  
“That is fine. You can remain here.”  
  
“Thank you, Edelgard. Or Edie. Which do you prefer?”  
  
Edie was Dorothea’s name for her. Edelgard was what everyone called her. She’d want him to call her that too.

Or perhaps…

“El.”  
  
“El?”  
  
“El.”

  
“Alright. El.” Byleth nodded once. “Will you please rest?”  
  
“I can try.” She didn’t want to rest. She wanted to see to everything. She had to know how everything was going, she couldn’t do that if she was in her room.

“That’s good. If you feel better, you can go. But please, rest. I will be back soon.”  
  
Byleth left once again, heading for his room. Edelgard stumbled back over to her bed, sitting down on it with a tired sigh.

She knew it was wrong to even ask him to call her that. There was still a great deal to be done, too much that they had to take care of. Rhea and the Church. Arundel and Those Who Slither in the Dark. It was too early for getting attached, to hope for him to show affection.

But she could have this. This one little thing. Right?

**Author's Note:**

> Title came to me when I was initially thinking of what to write for this idea. I liked it so much that it stayed even when this became more Edelgard centric. First time writing something Edelgard focussed in a long while.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this!


End file.
